Foreign jets ‘harassed’ PAF aircraft over Reed Bank — source

Fighter jets believed to be from China allegedly harassed last week two aircraft of the Philippine Air Force (PAF) that were conducting reconnaissance patrol over Reed Bank near Palawan province, a military source said Thursday. “They (PAF aircraft) were buzzed. Obviously, they were approached," the source said. “If you are a lesser superior aircraft, you will not engage." He said the PAF team was then using two OV-10s while the foreign aircraft were MIG fighter jets, which were far superior and more sophisticated. The source said the incident occurred Thursday last week while the PAF aircraft were on routine reconnaissance patrol over the area. The incident occurred three days before the US carrier that carried the body of slain international terrorist leader Osama bin Laden — the USS Carl Vinson — visited the Philippines — a move seen to cast a shadow on the Philippine-China relationship. Both China and the Philippines are claimants in the disputed Spratlys. The Philippine government has maintained that the Reed Bank is part of Kalayaan municipality in western Palawan, the territory within the Spratlys group of islands claimed by the country. Reed Bank “The location was somewhere over the Reed Bank…. It (PAF flight) is part of our normal maritime air patrols [to] check if there are new structures… formation of Chinese ships," the source said. It was the second time an alleged harassment occurred in the area. Last March, two Chinese ships supposedly harassed an oil exploration vessel from the Department of Energy, prompting the Philippine military to deploy aircraft to the area. Philippine defense and military officials said the Reed Bank is well within the Philippines’ exclusive economic zone. The source said the OV-10 pilots initially thought that the “unidentified aircraft," which were flying some 5,000 feet above them, were passenger planes, noting that the area is an international air route. Oban: AFP capabilities limited Sought for comment, Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) chief Gen. Eduardo Oban did not confirm the incident, saying they are still verifying the report. “Definitely in the Armed Forces of the Philippines, we just do the mandate that [was] given to us, we are patrolling our territorial waters to make sure the protection of our maritime resources and to make sure that no one enters our territory and violates our maritime laws," he said. Oban admitted that the Philippine military lacks the capability to totally monitor the country’s airspace, as well capability to intercept intruding aircraft. “In terms of capability, we don’t actually have the detection and monitoring capability. We don’t have radars to check if they indeed intruded into our airspace. Second, if we indeed have that capability, we need interdiction [capability]. We don’t have capability to interdict or to intercept," he said. Oban said the alleged harassment may be among the issues that may be discussed during his meeting with Chinese Defense Minister Gen. Liang Guanglie, who is scheduled to arrive on Saturday. The meeting will take place on Monday and will also be attended by Philippine Defense Secretary Voltaire Gazmin. “I see that among the talking points will be the Declaration of Conduct," he said, referring to the agreement that was forged by the claimant countries to refrain from using force to solve the dispute. — KBK, GMA News